Twelve years have passed since the East European Revolution, after which the former East European Countries drastically changed. These changes have many causes. We can point out two main factors. Of course, one is the change in the political, economic and social sys tem, in other words, the change from Planned Economy to Market Economy (specifically, in troduction of plural political parties, privatiza tion and liberalization of prices and trade). The other is the EU policy of "East Enlargement (Ost-Erweiterung)," which includes the EU's financial support such as SAPARD Program, and the implementation of policies of East European countries to achieve the standards of the EU. The drastic change in the East Euro pean countries has brought economic develop ment, but it was also accompanied by some serious problems. One of these is the increase in regional difference or regional disparities. In this symposium, we are going to discuss concrete changes and problems in Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary, which are called Central Europe. We also would like to mention the future of these countries.
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